Party at Castle Grof

by Kira Morgana

  “I’ll explain.

  “According to the legend recorded by Scholar Shallin Val’din in the year three hundred A.T., the four kingdoms of Valdier, Galivor, Jinran and Franier were once ruled over by the evil Aracan Katuvana from the Black Tower in the centre of the Heart Mountains.”

  He turned the page to a map. “To enforce his will on the people of the kingdoms, the Aracan Katuvana created the Dungeons of Doom. The network of dungeons and tunnels was supposed to spread across each kingdom. All of the Dungeons connected to the Tower with secret tunnels that were built around a vein of precious metals and gems.”

  The lord pointed out each of the locations in the appropriate places on the clay map. “Reldheim, the land of the Dwarves and Alethdariel, the ancestral home of the Elves, were able to stave the Aracan off for some considerable time, but eventually he began to encroach into their lands.

  “This precipitated an uprising from within Galivor, led by Ser Senith, a Paladin of Espilieth, aided heavily by the Dwarves and Elves. Over time the oppressed peoples of Valdier, Franier and Jinran joined the revolution.”

  Lord Harnez shut the book with a snap, making Ariana jump.

  “The Aracan Katuvana was eventually overthrown by the combined effort of all the Kingdoms. They raided the Dungeons, found the underground passages and stormed the Black Tower. Sir Senith destroyed the Aracan Katuvana and freed the kingdoms to run their own lives.

  “Over time the entrances to the Dungeons were lost, some demolished, some bricked up, their surrounding castles destroyed and the areas made forbidden to enter. For humans, it has been so long since the Overthrow that all that is left are the ruins, the scholarly legend and a fairy tale told to children to make them behave themselves.” Harnez stopped speaking and assessed his audience’s condition.

  Grald looked like he had fallen asleep on his feet and was even snoring lightly.

  Ariana eyed the three-dimensional map closely, whispering to Aranok: “Is it just me, or is there a flag in Alethdin?” she pointed. “It’s right next to the border of our home.”

  “Since when has Alethdariel become your homeland?” Aranok scoffed.

  “Since I was born and brought up there, dummy.”

  Aranok stifled a chuckle at being able to bait Ariana yet again.

  “Oh, I forgot about that.”

  Ariana thumped him in the arm.

  “Ahem.” Harnez cleared his throat.

  Grald jumped. “Whoops, sorry, Lord Harnez. I haven’t rested properly since we arrived in the city.”

  “My apologies, Lord Harnez,” Ariana said. “My half-brother isn’t exactly used to being around humans other than my mother or me. We don’t get out of Alethdar much.”

  “That explains your lack of knowledge then. Alethdariel prefers to ignore the existence of the Dungeons. The only one which was built there, was cleansed and turned into a storage facility of some kind, I believe.”

  “Are you referring to the Mage Library?” Ariana sent an incredulous glance at Aranok. I never knew it was an abandoned dungeon. Although that does explain a couple of things about the place. Hmmm, Aranok doesn’t seem surprised. Maybe it’s something that Elven Bloods are taught?

  “It would be an ideal place to house such dangerous knowledge, so yes, that is probably the one.” Harnez turned back to the map and sighed. “I conferred with King Groilin and we agreed this one is far too close to the city for comfort.”

  “Why are you bothering to send a party in at all?” Aranok asked. “Surely if there are creatures in there at all, the safest thing to do would be to leave it alone.”

  “There are several reasons that we need to clear it out. Firstly, the land there is fertile and has been unused for centuries. With the troubles the king is experiencing in the Southern Spires with the supposed Franieren Bandits, he requires extra supplies and wants to site a new village there. Secondly …” his voice trailed off and he looked into the distance.

  “Did you lose someone there?” Ariana’s gentle voice jolted him out of his reverie.

  “Yes. My younger sister. We were acting upon a dare from one of our friends by exploring the ruins and she just… disappeared.” He shook himself and coughed. “I would like whoever goes to try and find some trace of her. I do not believe, unlike my family, that she fell down some hole and died from her injuries.”

  Ariana exchanged a glance with her brother. “I see.”

  Harnez regained his composure “According to the village closest to the castle, there have been many such disappearances, as well as stories of vampires, werewolves and other such monsters that roam the countryside.”

  “And you consider stories a danger?” Aranok’s scepticism seemed to irritate the lord.

  “I conferred with King Groilin and we agreed it is far too close to Valdez for comfort. If the creatures within are real, we need to remove such an infestation immediately.”

  “And the supposed wealth of gemstones and gold below the castle helps of course,” the half elf muttered. Harnez ignored him.

  Grald glowered at the map. “Why didn’t the King send his troops in?” he asked.

  “They are currently tied up in a border skirmish with Franier over the pass through the Spires, as well as their bandit hunting and general patrol duties in the kingdom.” Harnez looked annoyed at the notion that his king wouldn’t help and pointed at the flag that indicated Castle Grof. “I paid for a large party of local mercenaries and adventurers to infiltrate the Dungeon. They got through the underground tunnels as far as a Graveyard before they were attacked by Vampires. Shilir was the only one to get out of the Dungeon alive.”

  “What about afterward? I mean, you had Shilir’s account to back you up,” Aranok asked. “Surely the King would have helped you then.”

  “I attempted to persuade the King to lend me half a brigade to cleanse the Dungeon, but he refused to even consider the suggestion.” Harnez shrugged, his weariness with the situation filling his voice.

  Aranok rolled his eyes at Ariana.

  “So you sent Shilir to get Grald and put together another party to go into the Dungeon.”

  “Yes. Warrior Grald is famed as a fighter and Shilir felt that he would be the ideal choice to lead…”

  “Oh, no.” Grald backed up waving his hands “I don’t lead anywhere. I thought Shilir would be leading, it’s the only reason I agreed to come along.”

  The Valdierian lord raised an eyebrow at the barbarian.

  “Even I have heard the tales of the Royal Crypt at Coptir and the incursion into Giranath.”

  Grald snorted derisively.

  “You believe what the bards tell of me? I’ve only just bought my freedom from the Lord of Southnra. Those ‘exploits’ the bards tell of were undertaken at his behest and I barely managed to escape Giranath. I lost ten men on that trip and I am not being held responsible for the wellbeing of this one.”

  “Oh. I didn’t realise that. Obviously Shilir didn’t do his research well enough.” Harnez looked inquiringly at Aranok who backed away with his hands up.

  “Ariana and I have not yet made any decision on whether or not we are even going to help you.” He looked at his sister, who sighed.

  “I think we need a little more detail and to sleep on it before we can make a decision. Especially as Grald is reluctant to take the lead in such a patently dangerous mission.” She looked at the Lord. “And I should consult with the Guild of Magic Users.”

  “Very well. As Shilir is the only survivor of the last party, I am sending him to Galivor, Reldheim, Alethdariel and Franier to endeavour to persuade them to put aside their differences and attack the Dungeons.” The Lord moved back to his desk and sat down. “I believe there is something stirring up the creatures and should it be necessary, a concerted effort would be needed to deal with all of the dungeons at once.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.” Aranok approved and looked at Grald. “Where do you stand then?”

  “I’m happy to go on the quest; I just d
on’t want to lead it,” he replied, looking a little shamefaced.

  “I can understand that.” Aranok turned back to Harnez. “You’d be expecting me to lead this party then? How many more people would you be adding to it?”

  “As many as I could. I’d hope that the pair of you would…”

  “We’ll think about what you are proposing,” Ariana interrupted, turning for the door.

  “Where are you going?” the Lord frowned at her.

  “I am Alethdariel’s Guild of Magic Users Liaison. I spent most of the day reporting to the Valdierien Guild on an urgent matter.” Ariana stretched “I need to sleep and talk to Aranok about this little adventure, especially as it sounds so dangerous.”

  “Where are you staying?” Harnez asked.

  “We were going to stay at the Mountain’s Shadow, but Grald’s little fight put paid to that, we’re likely to get arrested again if we go back there.”

  Grald hung his head and groaned. “The dwarf started it.”

  “Why don’t you stay across the way at the Royal Tower Inn?” Harnez suggested.

  “We can’t afford to stay there. It’s the most expensive inn in the city; only nobles stay there.” Ariana’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

  “Technically we are nobles, remember?” Aranok stifled a laugh.

  “It’s still too expensive.” She shook her head stubbornly.

  “I’ll send a message across that you are staying as my guests,” Lord Harnez told Ariana in a soothing voice. “That way you don’t have to chance the streets in a search for somewhere to stay, and I’ll have an opportunity to locate at least another two party members. I will also deal with the City Watch; it would not do for you to be arrested before you can make your decision.”

  Aranok bowed. “Thank you, milord. That would be most welcome.”

  Harnez smiled, pulling a piece of notepaper out of a drawer. As he wrote, he spoke “I shall pay for anything you require and in the morning we can talk again.” He rang a bell and Shilir reappeared. “Shilir, take them across to the Royal Tower and give Mistress Dinra this note.”

  Shilir bowed “Yes Lord Harnez.”

  * * *

  Mistress Dinra ushered them into the suite she had decided was worthy of the guests of Lord Harnez.

  “He’s done a lot for me over the years, has Lord Harnez. I’ll be happy to accommodate anything you need.”

  “Is there someone who can take a message for me?” Ariana dropped her bags on the floor beside a comfortable looking cushioned chair and sighed as she sat down.

  “My youngest son is the Inn Runner. I’ll send him up to you.” Mistress Dinra curtseyed, backed out of the door and shut it quietly behind her.

  Grald looked around, opened a bedroom door and gave a low whistle.

  “By Tyr’s Great Golden Genitalia, this is a costly place.”

  “Oh?” Aranok put his stuff beside Ariana, who was busy on a nearby table with parchment, ink and wax, and wandered over to peer through the door. “Very nice. You taking that one?”

  “May as well. I like red velvet; doesn’t show the blood.” The barbarian laughed at his own joke as he disappeared into the bedroom.

  Aranok opened the door next to the room Grald has chosen.

  “Hmm, blue. I’m not sure it’s my colour, but I’ll make do.” He retrieved his bags and ambled inside.

  Ariana finished her message and sealed it with a spell just as there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in.”

  A young lad wearing a dark blue sash with the Inn’s symbol on it and a matching floppy velvet cap opened the door. He bowed.

  “Mama sent me to take your message for you. The charge for my services shall be added to your bill.”

  Ariana smiled. “Thank you. Return to me when you are done and I shall give you a silver for your trouble.” She passed the message to him and he slid it into the pouch attached to his sash, bowed and left the room, shutting the door as quietly as his mother had.

  Aranok poked his head out of the room he had chosen.

  “Haven’t you got settled in yet, Ariana?”

  She stood up, collected her bag and went to the third of the rooms off the sitting room.

  “Just about to get sorted. I’m tired, so I’ll meet you and Grald downstairs in the common room later.”

  Aranok watched the door shut behind his sister with a certain amount of concern on his face.

  The sound of the door shutting seemed to trigger Grald emerging from his room.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Brother-sister stuff, don’t worry about it. So tell me about this dungeon thing. I know what Harnez wants out of it, but what do you want?” Aranok shut the door to his room behind him.

  Grald came out and smiled.

  “Fancy a pint? We can talk about it downstairs.”

  “That’d be a good idea; you already owe me a drink from earlier.” Aranok grinned and the two of them left the suite.

  An hour or so later, the two men were already on their third tankard of mead. Ariana came down to find them swapping scar stories and entertaining the common room’s other inhabitants by stripping off various pieces of clothing to display the scar they were talking about.

  Mistress Dinra hurried over to Ariana.

  “I’m glad you’re here, Lady. Could you ask your companions to calm down? We normally get a lot of the local residents in here, but I’ve already seen three of my regulars come in and leave again.”

  Ariana sighed.

  “This happens all the time around Aranok. I’ll sort them out, Mistress Dinra. Can you bring us whatever meal is currently on offer from the kitchen, please? The food should help things a little.”

  The Innkeeper smiled with relief.

  “Thank you. Is there anything special that you would like for yourself?”

  “If you have any Chocacao from the Southern Islands, I would appreciate some.” Ariana thanked her with a small bow and headed toward the table where her brother was currently showing off the long scar on his back.

  “I did that when I was a toddler,” she said loudly, sitting down across from him. “He left a broadhead arrow head in the main room, where I could reach and I grabbed it. He didn’t notice I was in the room and I whacked him with the arrow in a fit of rage that I was being ignored. Mother had Father sit on him while she stitched it back up.”

  Aranok glared at her as he dropped his tunic back down.

  “You promised to never talk about that.”

  “I had to say something to stop us getting thrown out of another inn. Mistress Dinra asked me to stop you two driving her regulars away.” Ariana frowned as she took in the state of her brother. “And you two haven’t eaten either have you?”

  They looked away from her and Ariana bit her lip to stop herself laughing as her older brother took on a guilty expression. A moment later, they both shook their heads silently.

  “Just as well that I ordered us some food, isn’t it.” Then she couldn’t hold it any longer and burst out laughing. The food arrived and put an end to her giggle fit.

  Grald and Aranok dived on the roast goose, potatoes and bread as if they hadn’t eaten in a week. Ariana stayed quiet on the subject of table manners, despite the irritated looks Mistress Dinra sent her way, until she judged that they’d had enough food to soak up the mead,

  “So what are we going to do, Aranok?” Ariana asked, soaking a slice of bread in her gravy. “We have to make a decision at some point.”

  “I’m not sure about this Ariana. I have to get back to Alethdariel.” Aranok picked at his bread, flicking crumbs across the table at her.

  “You mean you have to get back to Liana.” His sister raised an eyebrow.

  “I told her I would bring her a promise ring from the Viraldian Elves.”

  “We picked that up on the way here. So what’s the problem?”

  “I have to take it back to her.”

  “And you will!” Ariana rolled h
er eyes “Aranok, Grald can’t cleanse the Dungeon by himself.”

  “Harnez can find a couple of other mugs to go with him.” Aranok glanced at the barbarian. “No offence.”

  “None taken. I’m even having second thoughts about it now.” Grald belched and winced as Ariana frowned at him. “Sorry.”

  Before she could say anything further, a boy wearing a green tabard embroidered with a crossed pair of gold wands entered the common room and strode straight over to Ariana.

  He bowed. “Lady Ariana of Alethdariel. You are summoned to a Moot at the Guild.”

  “The Guild?” Grald asked Aranok.

  “The Guild of Magic Users.” The ranger stretched. “That’s one of Archmage Reldalliam’s personal runners. Weren’t you paying attention to anything my sister said earlier?”

  Grald shrugged and concentrated on his food. “Not really.”

  Grabbing her cloak from the back of her chair and swinging it around her shoulders, Ariana sighed, “Lead on, Youngling.” To her brother, she said, “Aranok, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Try not to get into any trouble.”

  “Since when do I get into trouble?” Aranok protested.

  Ariana contented herself with shaking her head and followed the page out of the Inn.

  “She seemed to be expecting him.” Grald poured Aranok another mug of mead.

  “She sent a message out earlier. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was her answer.” Aranok stuffed another piece of bread in his mouth and washed it down with a long draught from his mug.

  “Who is Liana?” Grald asked.

  “She’s the daughter of Queen Aletaraenia of Alethdariel.”

  “Is she a Princess?”

  “Of course she is.” Aranok blinked and sighed. “She’s beautiful. Long hair the colour of copperleaf leaves in the autumn, eyes as blue as sapphires…” Aranok trailed off into a reflective silence.

  “Sounds like your friend is in love,” a melodic voice interrupted.

  “It does sound that way,” Grald said as he turned to look at the newcomer. He blinked.

  * * *

  “Well, this is an interesting occurrence, Sire.” The Jar remarked from its pedestal beside the throne. “I thought she’d vanished when Galindren was lost to the Humans, is she still our… yours?”